Mask and Veil
by MacFie
Summary: Painted LadyBlue Spirit by request.  Avatar and its characters belong to Nickelodeon and the creators of the show.  Not me.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This piece was 'commissioned' by my niece for the Zutara board at Distant Horizons who have been having a lot of fun with

**A/N:** This piece was 'commissioned' by my niece for the Zutara board at Distant Horizons who have been having a lot of fun with the "Blue Paint" concept. It's her idea, but I wrote it up. A team effort. We might do more chapters but we'll have to see if the muse takes us.

Enjoy!

MacFie xoxo

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The hut was dark and silent as it was supposed to be. Well, not exactly silent since Sokka was snoring loudly face down on his pallet.

Katara pulled the wide, veiled hat off her head and quickly scrubbed away the red paint that disguised her face. She pulled off the white robe, wrapped it around the hat and tucked it under a fallen log just outside the structure.

Opening the door she made as little sound as possible. She was tired and wanted to fall into bed without even pulling her blanket back.

At the same time she was exhilarated. It had been a successful mission with a few interesting twists. She longed to tell someone about it, but she knew silence was imperative. They would stop her from going to the villagers and workers who were hurt by the giant incinerators that serviced this entire province. Sokka had recently vowed to stay up all night watching her sleep to make sure she didn't "pull anymore Painted Lady stunts". Listening to him snort and snuffle she had to grin at the notion of him sleepless for even an hour.

All of them had sided against her when she mentioned helping the people in this town. She understood to a certain extent because they'd exposed themselves so outrageously in the town with the polluted water. Even Aang had become opposed to her nightly healing jaunts, which surprised her because he was always the first one to support any plan that included aiding those people who needed it.

She tiptoed across the floor, careful not to trip over any stray arms or legs and nearly screamed when a hand grabbed her around her ankle. She looked down to see Aang staring angrily up at her from his pallet on the floor.

"Where have you been?" He whispered harshly.

"Out for a walk." She responded lamely.

"Come with me." He quickly got up, grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door, away from the hut and their sleeping companions.

"Stop it!" She pulled her hand out of his grasp.

"Tell me where you were." Aang said just as angry as he'd been inside.

"There was a lady who was badly burned today at the incinerator. I heard about it at the market and I knew I could help her. I'm very good with burns. I couldn't just let her suffer. Aang, she was burned all over her body. She would have died." Katara explained, a catch in her voice as she remembered the poor woman whimpering in pain as she'd entered the home.

"People die every day all over the world. You just have to accept it. I've had to." He responded sounding for all the world as if he was completely unaffected by the woman's agony.

Katara knew differently and that knowledge made her even more furious at his interference. It just wasn't like him to refuse to help someone. To put pragmatism over idealism. The change in him saddened her but it also fueled her irritation.

"But she wasn't somewhere else in the world, she was here and I could help her." Katara huffed. "I wasn't caught. In fact, I had some help." She lifted her chin proudly.

"Help?" Aang's brow furrowed.

"I was healing the woman and this man came in. I think he was looking for someone but I didn't look up from what I was doing. I kept my head down, don't worry."

"Who was he looking for?"

"I don't know. He came over and looked at the woman on the bed and then he walked back out the door. He seemed disappointed though. Like all the energy went out of him when he saw her."

"So what happened? How did you need help?" Aang asked hoping with all his heart that she hadn't blown their cover.

"Well, I left the house and started to walk back through the forest and I could tell he was following me." She said thinking back to that moment. She had not been afraid.

"What?!" Aang looked around. She was followed? She brought a stranger here?

"He's not here." She sighed. "He was protecting me. I knew he wasn't going to hurt me. I'm not sure how I knew that but I did."

"Go on." His tone was really annoying her now. He had obviously been spending too much time with Sokka.

"I realized I couldn't just come back here while he was following me so I looped around and went back toward the town. I was hoping to lose him in an alley or something."

"Uh huh." Aang said almost mockingly. He was definitely going to get it if he kept this up she decided.

"Four men from the plant came and stood in my path. I kept my head down though, none of them saw my face." She assured him. "And then he just kind of appeared in front of me. Between me and the men."

"Well, that was nice of him." Aang said dryly.

"I thought so." She responded in kind. "He pulled two swords out and held them together in one hand. Then he took my arm and sort of pushed me through two of the men and motioned for me to run. I looked back and he was standing up to them. The men were already coming at him. He definitely seemed like he could handle them. They were flabby and drunk. He motioned at me again and I ran."

"Hmm. That really _was_ a nice thing to do." Aang said thoughtfully although he was still fiercely angry at Katara for putting herself and their whole mission at risk.

"I hope he's okay." She sat down on the ground, her weary legs needing a rest.

Aang came and sat down across from her.

"And you're sure he didn't follow you?" He asked.

"He was fighting the men. I ran in a wide loop so it looked like I was going someplace else."

"I wonder who he was." Aang said almost to himself. Maybe he was a firebender who could help him learn. Or maybe someone who could help lead a resistance.

"I know who it was." She said.

"Who?"

"The Blue Spirit. Remember, his wanted posters were everywhere yours were for a while there." She said confidently. "It was definitely him. Or someone disguised as him."

Aang's face had gone so white his arrow tattoo looked dark against his skin. He'd never told anyone about his encounter with the Blue Spirit and now it was impossible to explain why.

"You're sure?" Aang asked her.

"I'm sure. I wish I could have talked to him." She said dreamily. "He's an enemy of the Fire Nation too. He could help us!"

"Never talk to him." Aang said urgently. "If you ever see him again, run the other way."

"He's a fugitive Aang. I think he's trying to protect this town. He might be able to help us." She said adamantly.

"No!" Aang was even more forceful, his stomach had turned to lead and his mind was whirling.

"I'll bet he's from around here. I'll bet he got burned by the incinerator too, just like the woman I healed, and that's why he goes around at night and wears a mask."

Aang didn't know what to say. Should he tell her now? What if it wasn't Zuko, but rather some guy who really_ was_ trying to do good for the village and Katara attacked him because of Aang's story? She would do it too. Aang almost felt sorry for Zuko knowing what Katara had planned for the prince should they ever face off again. And if this person _wasn't_ actually Zuko it could go very badly.

Certainly there were plenty of Avatar imposters out there. It would be easy to mimic the look of the Blue Spirit. But the style?

"Did he use broadswords?" He asked her.

"Yes. He had them strapped on his back. At first I thought it was one sword but then it turned out to be two." She nodded.

"Was his style circular or straight on?"

"I only saw him fight for a second but what I saw looked circular."

"If you ever see him again, run for your life, Katara. Promise me." Aang still wasn't sure, but he didn't want her taking any chances. "Did he see your face at all?"

"No, I told you, I kept my head down." She was really getting frustrated with the interrogation. "And he was gentle, Aang. He didn't squeeze my arm or anything. He just guided me through the men but he kept their attention on him the whole time. And he followed me to protect me, I know that."

She felt strongly that she must defend the Blue Spirit. Aang hadn't been there. He didn't know how close she had come to having to use her waterbending. She'd had her pouch uncorked.

"I want to find him." She said, her voice terrifyingly determined.

"Don't!" Aang was on his feet now, for the first time towering over her. "I'm telling you Katara, don't do it. Stop the Painted Lady missions and never, ever seek out the Blue Spirit. He's not an ally, no matter what you think."

Katara got up and stalked back to the hut shaking her head furiously. How could Aang be so dogmatic? Who was he to say what she could do?

The Blue Spirit had not necessarily saved her life because she could have used her bending to escape, but he couldn't have known that. And in her opinion that made him a hero.

And he was looking for someone. Maybe she could help him in return.

"I'm sorry for being so harsh Katara, but I'm very serious about this." Aang whispered when they'd both tucked into their beds.

"So am I Aang. I will never turn my back on someone who needs me."

With that she drifted off to sleep.

She dreamt of heroes.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**A/N:** We added a couple of lines to the previous chapter because several people felt Aang was too OOC. He was, but we kind of intended it that way. He's under a lot of stress, poor kid. Anyway, it's not crucial at all that you reread chapter one, but in case you'd like to you might find it ever-so-slightly different from the first time you read it.

Thanks !

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Chapter 2

He crept silently into his room at the inn, slightly amused that he had to enter through the window when he'd paid for a week's stay.

It was late. Or early, however one wanted to look at it. He would sleep most of the day and then leave when the crowds at the market slowed to a trickle.

He placed his swords on the floor by his bed, within easy reach. He pulled off the dark clothing he wore, wrapped it around the mask and stuffed it all under a table in the corner.

He washed his face and fell back onto the futon, his eyes closed. Very slowly the tension began to leave his body. If only his thoughts would settle, he might be able to sleep.

Unbidden the veiled woman came into his mind along with the burn victim who he had so desperately hoped and equally desperately feared would be his mother. The woman dressed as the Painted Lady from the old children's stories seemed to have healed the burned woman. He wasn't positive about that, but the story he'd heard about the accident at the plant had told of burns over eighty-five percent of the woman's body. The patient being tended by the healer had some burns on her arms but nothing more that he could see.

And if the Painted Lady was healing the woman, was she then a water bender? His exhausted body wanted to sleep but his mind wanted to figure out the mystery.

He'd tracked Ursa to this small town and the trail had suddenly gone cold. There were those who had seen her, or someone who looked just like her, but nobody had seen her in a couple of weeks. That was not surprising in this town however as people would go for month long periods at the incinerators, sleeping in a dingy barracks between shifts.

So it had been entirely possible that the victim could have been Ursa. But it hadn't been. And even as disgusted as he was at the thought of his mother working manual labor, he simply wanted to find her at this point. To see her again and ask her why.

He had followed the veiled woman because she intrigued him. She had been stupid enough to walk by herself through the town and into the forest and he thought he'd see what would happen. Naturally a gang of pigs from the plant accosted her. He had expected that too.

The thought had crossed his mind immediately that she could be the avatar's water bender. Katara. And if she were the one playing the Painted Lady then the avatar would have to be nearby. He'd wanted to follow her just to see. Just in case.

He had begun to doubt his theory however that she was the same person who had been one of the banes of his existence for the past many months when she stood frozen in fear, face to face with the pigs. She had not attempted to fight and while she may have been hiding her bending, the avatar's companion had a quick temper and would have taken the pigs out swiftly, of that Zuko had little doubt. And he was fairly certain she had not been aware of him following her, so she'd had nothing to fear by taking out her attackers and leaving them to tell the preposterous tale.

She had been almost pretty enough to be the water bender. What he'd seen of her face anyway.

The prince rubbed his temples. He was going to have to go back to the palace soon. He had told his father he was going away to make sure the rest of the avatar's entourage hadn't been behind several of the stories they'd heard lately of upstarts and sabotage. He was never able to lie, but his father had made no objection. And maybe it wasn't a lie. If he should come across the avatar's group while he searched for his mother then that would just be a bonus, wouldn't it?

Now that Zuko thought about it, he wondered if he was going to get some kind of nasty surprise when he got back to the capitol. He had found that his sister was plotting against him as usual. It would be a great victory over her if he should return with the avatar's traveling companions along with the avatar himself. Or proof of the enemy's death.

He shrugged off such thoughts. It was unlikely that the Painted Lady was the obnoxious water bender. And if he confronted her and she wasn't, she would probably run and the people of the town would lose a valuable healer in the process. Iroh had once told him of Northern Water Tribe healers and how they were all women and they didn't fight. Could such a woman have ended up in the Fire Nation?

He would know for certain if he followed her again a few times. She couldn't hide her identity forever.

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As Katara dipped her fingers into the red paint she thought about her mission. She would go to the infirmary that tended the victims of accidents at the incinerators. Many of the burns might have already started to heal into scars, but she could lessen the pain at least.

"Katara," Aang's whispered voice came from behind, startling her into bending some of the paint from her bowl and threatening him with it.

"Don't sneak up on me like that." She breathed irritably.

"I need to tell you something." He said looking at the ground.

"First, I need to tell _you_ thanks for not telling Sokka. He would have had Toph bend me into the ground and then made me sleep like that all night." She said.

"Well, there was a lot of talk in the village about the Painted Lady healing a woman who was badly injured. But Sokka wasn't there to hear it."

"Is that why you went to the village alone earlier? Because you knew they'd be talking about it?" She asked, even more gratitude washing over her.

"Yeah. I didn't want Sokka to hear the Painted Lady gossip. He will though." Aang warned her.

"I know. But we'll move on by then." She shrugged.

"I'm glad you healed her." Aang said quietly.

Katara looked over at him and smiled.

"I know you are. I knew even when you were scolding me." She went back to her face decorating.

"I'm not going to stop you from going out anymore, but I'm going to go with you to protect you." He declared.

"And how would you protect me except by bending? If you had fire bending that would be one thing, but as it is, anything you do is going to give you away as an enemy." She said sensibly.

"Same with you." He argued.

"But if they catch me, as if they could, it's no big thing. If they catch you… well, everything's over." She looked down at him with an almost stern expression.

"I can't let you go by yourself." His voice was taking a belligerent tone, which was not typically a good way to get Katara to agree with something.

"Aang, I will not have you coming along. If I wake Sokka he won't let me go, and there are people with burns who need me. But if I have to wake him up and sacrifice the mission myself to keep you from going, I'll do it." She explained, matching his belligerence and making good sense at the same time.

Aang thought about it for a long moment while Katara went back to her face painting. He watched her miserably wishing he had healing abilities too. At least then he could be of some use on her mission. She was right, though. If he needed to protect her all he could do was bend and any form of bending he could do would be total exposure as an enemy to the Fire Nation. And Sokka would not let her go to the people who had been hurt if she made good on her threat and woke him up. So he was going to have to give in.

The most he could do was tell her the truth so she would be as cautious as he needed her to be.

"When you and Sokka were sick that time," He began what seemed to Katara like a non-sequitor, "When I had to get you to suck on frogs…"

"Yech! Why'd you have to remind me?" She grimaced.

"It took me so long to get back because I got captured by Zhao." Aang admitted quietly.

Katara turned to look at him, the expression on her face at once unbelieving and horrified.

"Why didn't you tell us?" She asked.

"Because I was rescued." He continued, his voice still subdued. "By the Blue Spirit."

"You've seen him!" She almost cried out, but then whispered enthusiastically. "See! He_ is_ on our side. He helped me and he rescued you!"

"No!" Aang cut her off, holding his hand up. "He wasn't rescuing me to send me on my way. He rescued me so he could take me prisoner himself."

"What?" Her painted brow furrowed.

"It was Zuko."

Katara took a step back, her decorated face frozen in shock.

"Why didn't you tell us?" She asked, realizing it was a little late to be hurt by his omission but feeling the emotion just the same.

"Because I escaped him. It didn't matter. The whole thing was depressing and I didn't want to talk about it." Aang rattled off the reasons but the last one was the only one that rang of truth.

"It's not him." Katara said confidently.

"You can't know that." Aang replied.

"Why in the world would he be here? Why would he have helped me? Zuko only helps someone if he has an ulterior motive, like rescuing you only to take you prisoner himself. The Blue Spirit was telling me to run. He had to have known he'd be tied up with those guys long enough to keep him from following me."

"Maybe…"

"No. Why would he leave the palace? Who would even let him? No, this is someone using the persona, I'm sure of it." She nodded.

"What if it's not?" Aang asked thinking she was probably right but worrying nevertheless.

"I'll be careful. I can handle Zuko." She said ominously.

Then she quickly grinned and kissed him on the forehead before turning away.

Aang watched her walk off through the forest, a blush still staining his cheeks. He would try to stay awake until she returned.

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Zuko crept across the underside of the bridge that would take him to the huge infirmary that held the patients who'd been injured at the incinerator. He was sure the Painted Lady would be here tonight. The village had been alive with gossip about the healing nocturnal spirit. The victim from yesterday was recovering now without a single burn to show for her horrible injury.

The infirmary held long-term patients with severe burns. The woman from yesterday had been expected to die by morning and so she'd been taken to her home for her comfort.

As he approached the square block building he saw a flash off white in the distance. As it grew closer he saw it was indeed the person he'd been waiting for and he made his way over, hiding himself behind rocks and sparse foliage. She never looked up at him, so engrossed was she in finding a way into the building.

He found himself drawn to her. Something about the veil and the mystery of it was … enticing. He stopped himself as he realized he was walking openly toward her. He ducked behind a boulder and watched as she climbed a vine covered trellis on the side of the building and disappeared into the window.

Obviously not the avatar's water bender he decided. She would have raised herself to the window with a column of water rather than awkwardly climbing a potentially rotten trellis. Especially in that incredibly impractical getup she was wearing.

He sighed, shaking his head, and followed her.

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Zuko silently thanked her for wearing the long veil when he saw the tail end of it twitch around the corner, alerting him to her direction. He ran down the hallway, his feet making no sound at all on the tiled floors. He saw her enter a room and crept after her.

Looking in he was appalled to see at least fifteen beds crowded into one room. Workers, people, with varying levels of injury lay hopelessly on the low beds. They made not one sound when they saw the Painted Lady enter the room. Had they known of her healing last night? Had they known she could help them and was here to do that? Had they somehow expected her?

He watched her go from bed to bed, tending each and every patient. It wasn't difficult for him to hide. There was hardly any light in the room and shadows were dark and more than big enough to disappear into.

Some of the people simply sighed and slept when she finished with them, their scars marking them for eternity, but their pain relieved by her touch. Definitely a water bender but only for healing, he was sure of it. Some people's burns were fresh enough that she was able to make all trace of them disappear. He wondered silently what would have happened if she'd been around after his fateful Agni Kai with his father. He probably would have attacked her he smirked.

Once she had finished with the last patient in the room she hurried out the door. He followed. She was down the hall in a flash and disappearing into another room when he heard the guards coming down the corridor, laughing and talking loudly, ignoring the fact that the patients needed rest.

Zuko positioned himself just inside the door. Again, there were only a couple of candles in the room so shadows were abundant. He watched the woman work. These people were more severely burned and the injuries were new. He wondered if there had been another accident so soon on the heals of the last one. He was determined to buy her the time she needed to finish.

He crept back into the hall, climbed up a pitted block wall and clung to two beams on the ceiling. He waited.

"If you really want to see something gross, you should look in here. Fresh broiled." One of them disgustingly laughed as they strode cockily through the hall toward the room where the Painted Lady had met her biggest challenge of the night.

Just as they passed beneath his perch, he dropped onto their heads, using the handles of his swords to render them unconscious. They clattered noisily to the floor and he leapt toward the door where the healing was taking place. The veiled woman was looking up, wide-eyed and he was struck once again by her beauty. Odd, he realized, since he couldn't clearly see her face, but he was certain she was just as pretty as the avatar's water bender, if not more so. He motioned for her to hurry and took a ready stance at the door.

They were not interrupted again, which Zuko found strange since he was still kicking himself for causing such a commotion. Obviously the night shift was sparsely manned. After all, the threat of a patient uprising was quite slim when most of them were in such agonizing pain they wept over the act of drawing breath.

He turned to observe her progress and she was already coming toward him. He jerked his head at the hallway and led the way to an inner stairwell. He'd been here a few times already on his nightly searches and knew the most invisible passages to aid their escape.

The inner route led to another corridor, which held the offices of the administrators of the infirmary. It was here they might encounter guards, he thought. This was where the money was kept. And as soon as that thought crossed his mind, he heard the telltale sound of steel re-enforced boots striking the stone floor.

Zuko hurried the veiled woman down the passageway to another door. He pushed it hard and a burst of acrid air from the standing vents just outside the building hit them hard. He nudged her through first and then followed, walking backward to make sure he saw when the guard would discover them.

At her sudden cry, he turned and saw that a huge, hairy, ape of a Fire Nation soldier had grabbed her. The soldier must have been one of the few who were in such bad grace with the military that they'd been assigned this, the worst duty in the nation. He stank of ale and onions. He was probably outside the building relieving himself, or trying to shirk his duties elsewhere, but their problem was that he _was_ there, not _why _that was so.

The veiled woman struggled, stomping on the steel toes of the military man's boots and then grimacing in pain. She was trying to pull her arms inward across her body and Zuko wondered if she was going to bend her healing water. Maybe she could fight after all? She would expose herself if she did and then everyone else in the infirmary that she hadn't been able to heal tonight would have to suffer.

He drew his swords. The door behind him opened and the guard stepped out.

"Well, what have we got here? It's not the solstice. What's with the costumes?" Came a gruff voice from the doorway.

Zuko's swords came to life in his hands and he quickly freed her by using the flat of his blade on the soldier's elbow. He motioned as he had last night for her to run before he lit into the soldier, turning their positions so the lout stood between him and the guard. She hesitated just a moment, watching him. To be certain he could handle it? That he wouldn't need healing at some point? He used his sword to make a definitive gesture for her to run as he took out the soldier by shoving the hilt into his opponent's soft abdomen.

She ran. In a different direction from the one she'd run last night, he noticed out of the corner of his eye.

It took him a few more minutes to finish off the guard who had not been overindulging that night, and who knew a few blocks to use against the swords. He ended up sweeping the heavier man's legs out from under him and the guard fell heavily on his back with a clang when his head hit the inside of his helmet. Afterward Zuko looked around to see if he could catch a glimpse of the veil in the moonlight.

She was gone. Disappeared once more into the forest.

He would see her again the next night, he promised himself as he made his way wearily back to the inn. He would find out who she was.

Either that or she was going to get him killed.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"I'll wait up again." Aang told her as she turned toward the darkness of the forest.

"Why don't you get some rest and I'll wake you up when I get back?" Katara suggested, hating how tired he was looking.

He'd greeted her anxiously when she'd returned the night before. After she'd recounted her experience at the infirmary he seemed convinced the Blue Spirit was not their enemy but someone from the town who was using the persona.

But why would someone choose to disguise himself as a wanted criminal? Regardless of whether or not he _was_ that criminal to begin with? None of it made sense, but the experience at the infirmary had convinced Katara she could trust the masked man and Aang was willing to trust her instincts this time.

He would wait up for her all the same.

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A lead ball formed in Zuko's stomach as he observed the glut of soldiers patrolling the infirmary. They were everywhere. The bridge was lined with them and there were guards posted at every door.

He had brought this on. He cursed inwardly, viciously berating himself for buying this particular mask. He'd known he was a wanted criminal. He'd laughed when he'd first seen the notice. How absurd to put a mask on a wanted poster! Especially when those masks were available at every kiosk and festival ground in the world.

But only he was the Blue Spirit. His style, his intent all marked him as the true article. Why had he chosen the same persona?

Aesthetics, he decided. And then he felt so pathetic he almost cried.

There was no time for tears or self-recrimination he realized when he caught sight of the fluttering white veil in the trees below the rise where he sat observing.

Quickly he scrambled down the small hill, ducking behind trees as they became available, and made his way to her. As he neared he whistled at her quietly, hoping she would take the signal and not stupidly try to breach the security tonight.

She backed up so that she was more deeply shrouded by the trees before she looked his way. He came toward her quickly, noticing her twitching fingers, wondering if he had been close to experiencing a water bending attack. He grabbed her elbow and pulled her deeper into the forest, putting his finger to the mouth of the mask.

When he was satisfied they were hidden from view he pulled her very close, his arms pinning hers to her sides.

Outraged, she struggled, trying to knee him in a sensitive spot. He dodged at the last second and brought his head close to hers.

"You can't go in there tonight." He whispered so quietly she had to focus intently to understand him.

"I know." She whispered back, trying to remember what the awful prince had sounded like so she could compare voices. But she'd never heard him whisper, had barely heard him do anything but yell and bark out threats and commands, so there was no way to identify this man from his voice.

"Come with me." He released her arms and pulled her by the hand even farther into the forest until he came to a clearing.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked but she didn't pull her hand away.

"Here." He pointed to an open circle in a stand of trees where the moonlight brought relief from the dense shroud of forest.

"Why?" She almost said full-voiced but remembered at the last second to whisper. If she couldn't recognize his voice, he certainly couldn't recognize hers either. If they met on the streets of the village they would not know each other.

"I won't always be around to protect you. I have to leave soon. You need a weapon and to know how to use it." He said and pulled a dagger out of his boot.

"I don't…" She backed a way at first but then stopped for a long moment and walked toward the outstretched hand, which offered the weapon by the hilt.

"I know you're a water bender." He said and her hand stilled as she reached for the knife. "Don't worry. I won't turn you in. You're a healer, not a fighter. I'm right, aren't I?"

She just nodded. She'd figured he'd have to know she was bending in order to heal those people but had counted on it not mattering to him. She was happy to see she was correct. She would allow him to believe she didn't know the first thing about fighting if that would keep them from becoming enemies.

"It's just as well you aren't a fighter. You would expose yourself and be arrested. Then you couldn't help anyone. You need to be able to protect yourself though."

She nodded again. He was still whispering and it was a sound that caused a tingling up her spine to the back of her neck. It was not unpleasant. She felt slightly guilty she'd tried to use her knee to unman him.

She took the dagger from his hand.

"I'll teach you how to use it." He said and reached out to touch her veil. "This is going to be a problem." He said almost to himself.

"If I'm attacked I'll take it off." She said.

"Take it off now." He suggested and she stiffened. "Alright then, leave it on. You may not have time to take it off if you're attacked and you don't want to leave a piece of your disguise behind when you run anyway. So you'll have to work around it."

"Show me." She said holding the knife to him.

He didn't take it. He walked around behind her and put his arms along hers, positioning her. He lifted the veil away and let it drop. He tried a couple of different positions before he seemed satisfied.

"Okay. You'll have better luck if you think offensively rather than defensively." He turned her to face him. He pulled the veil closed and stepped back. "Hold the knife like this." He reached through the veil, took her hand and positioned it on the knife and then closed the gauzy fabric again. "Now clear the veil"

He stepped back and watched as the dagger caught in the fabric and she struggled to free it. Once she freed the knife the veil fell back into place and she tried to clear it again for an attack. After five tries she was on the verge of frustrated fury and he was on the verge of hysterical laughter. Why would anyone choose such an obstructing garment when planning a covert operation?

"I know you're laughing even though I can't see your face." She glared at him. "Your shoulders are shaking."

He stepped toward her with his hands up, palms out. She lowered the knife and he parted the veil with one hand.

"You won't be able to clear the veil with the knife. Do it with the other hand." He said patiently, repressing a chuckle.

"I thought you wanted me to do it with the knife." She grumbled.

"I didn't say either way."

She shook her head irritably and shoved him away for her next attempt.

Naturally she was able to quickly sweep the veil aside and brandish the weapon with some ease. He nodded his approval and she beamed through her red and white paint.

He stepped forward and showed her how to parry a sword with the dagger. He showed her how to attack with the blade and how to switch her grip so that she could also use the hilt as a weapon. He still whispered and it still made her tingle, but he was a good teacher.

Two hours had passed when he judged the lesson to be complete. She held his dagger out for him to take but he didn't touch it. He just looked at her; or rather the mask looked at her, and shook his head.

"I meant for you to keep it." He whispered.

"Oh. Thank you. I could get one for myself in the village." She answered.

"No. I want you to keep it." He said.

She nodded and tucked it into her belt.

"Don't follow me." She said. "Please."

"Why not?" He asked, moving closer.

She didn't want to back away but she did take one step. He was disturbingly in her space now and she felt herself swallow hard.

"Why not?" He asked again.

"Because … " She began but had no false reason at hand. "Because I asked you not to." She finally breathed. He was standing so close!

He didn't answer, but his gloved hand came up to the veil and pushed it slightly aside. She placed her hand on his wrist – not grabbing, just touching – and he stilled his movement. He ducked his head to attempt a look under the hat and she turned away.

"Take off your mask and I'll let you see _my_ face." She whispered pointedly at him.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Nobody significant. Who are _you_?" She replied.

After a long pause he stepped back.

"I'll stay right in this spot for three minutes." He promised.

"Thank you." She turned to go.

"Meet me back here at ten minutes to midnight tomorrow." He said before she could truly start away.

She turned back and nodded and then he watched her leave. In a direction from which she had not come.

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As he lay staring at the ceiling of his room he wondered for the thousandth time why he'd let her leave. Why hadn't he followed her? Even though he promised not to, he could have broken that promise without her ever knowing.

He knew it was because she had demanded his identity as well. He convinced himself again that she could not know who he was. He convinced himself again that she was not the avatar's water bender. And he convinced himself that he could wait a few days – at least until they were through with the infirmary – before he discovered her identity.

Rolling onto his side he thought of Mai and what she might be doing at that moment. But he fell asleep before a clear picture could crystallize in his thoughts.

And blue eyes beaming through a white veil invaded and overtook his dreams.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

At exactly ten minutes to midnight Zuko saw the Painted Lady approach from yet another direction in the forest. He rose to meet her.

"They're still there." She whispered breathlessly before they were even three feet from one another.

"I know." He responded quietly, instinctively looking around to see if she'd brought anyone with her.

"What do we do? I need to get in there." She wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to stay in the area. Sokka was getting suspicious.

"I've been in already tonight." He informed her quietly.

"What? Why didn't you wait for me?" She bit back a full voice, which was incredibly difficult considering how loudly she wanted to scream at him.

"I wanted to see how many more patients were left to be healed." No explanation for not waiting, no defensiveness.

Katara turned away from him. His previous protection seemed thoughtful but now it was just downright intrusive.

"I didn't ask for your help." She said tightly. "I'll go myself."

He grabbed her arm and she turned back sharply. He certainly was presumptuous, she thought heatedly.

Zuko noticed his dagger tucked into her belt. Why did that please him so much? Especially when he might be about to fight her.

"You can't go in there like that. Your disguise is perfect for a parade, not a covert entry." He whispered impatiently.

"At least I'm not posted on every kiosk in the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom as a wanted criminal." She spat.

They stood like that for a long moment, both bodies clenched in prelude to physical confrontation. His mind however, was not clenched and he started laughing as he realized he certainly couldn't argue with her over who had chosen the more dangerous costume to wear.

Katara decided he'd lost his mind when he chuckled softly with genuine amusement.

"What did you see? How many are left?" Personal issues aside she really only had a couple nights left, if that, to clear the entire infirmary. At least his obnoxious reconnaissance could give her an idea of how much time she would need.

"There's one more floor that has patients. There's about twenty. All children."

"What?" She asked horrified.

"There's a children's barracks at the incinerator too." He said evenly, but his need to whisper made the quiver of anger in his voice more pronounced. "They're basically slave labor. It's where the bad kids go when they disappear from school."

Katara shuddered remembering a similar threat made to Aang during his short matriculation at a Fire Nation academy.

"How many?" She demanded.

"About thirty."

"We have to get them out." She declared

"They'll just get more." He said cynically before adding, "But yeah, we can't just leave them there." He knew she couldn't. He knew he wouldn't.

"Shut down the incinerator?" She proposed.

"And what? Build a landfill? You may not have noticed, but the Fire Nation doesn't have a whole lot of land."

"Just brainstorming." She said defensively.

"There are safety problems but the plant has to stay." He was firm on that issue. A lot of people might argue, but not a one of them would provide a destination for the various items of refuse disposed of in the incinerators.

"Aren't there government inspectors?"

"None that are doing their jobs apparently." He grumbled. "I know someone who might be able to do something. It'll take a few weeks, but it'll be fixed."

"Who do you know?" Her blood was running cold.

_It's him. It's him. It's him._ She thought frantically.

"The Minister of Waste Management." He said dryly.

"Oh." She said realizing belatedly that his knowing a highly placed official meant nothing with regard to his identity. "There's a minister for that?"

"There's a Minister of Pets and Livestock, a Minister of Vegetation, a Minister of National Holidays…"

"And you know all these people?"

He paused for a moment.

"Take off your veil and paint and I'll show you _my_ face." He threw her words of the previous night back to her.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye. Was it him? What would she do if it _did_ turn out to be the prince? At that moment they were working together and he seemed as concerned as she for the safety and freedom of the children. It would do no good to continue questioning him.

"What do we do about the kids? I can't just leave them and I only have a couple more nights."

"If we release the ones at the plant and then rescue the ones at the infirmary, we'll need a place to take them and someone to care for them. That's a lot of business to take care of in a couple of nights." He knew he wasn't going to be staying much longer either. He'd come to this place to search for his mother but, although he had been constantly keeping an eye out, he'd gotten terribly sidetracked the moment he'd met the Painted Lady.

"If you can help me get into the infirmary tonight I can heal the kids. Then they'll send them all back to the barracks and we'll only have to contend with one location when we do the rescue." She said.

"That's a good idea, but how are we going to get you past those guards?"

"I have a plan." She said. "Come on."

She turned quickly and grabbed his gloved hand, pulling him through the forest straight toward the infirmary and the overabundance of sentries.

"Are you crazy?" He hissed at her.

"Probably." She whispered back while she reached down to her pouch, opened it quickly and pulled the entire contents out in a stream. Before he could object or key into any of her other movements they and a hundred yards of area surrounding them were engulfed in a thick, white mist.

"How can you see?" He was trusting her not to pull him off the bridge as they ran across because he could not see an inch in front of him.

"Don't worry!" She laughed.

She _couldn't_ see, but she could feel the water in the mist as it moved around obstacles. The sensation gave her just enough time to dodge the various guards and to keep them on the their path. She'd concentrated on providing them the straightest route before she'd created the fog and now she was simply taking it.

"Draw your swords just in case." She warned.

"I already did. You can't see a thing, can you?" He griped.

And suddenly they were inside the building. There was a great deal of commotion on the outside as the guards panicked over the sudden lack of visibility.

Zuko looked over at her. She had turned her back to him and was fiddling with something under her veil.

"What are you doing?" He asked suspiciously.

She turned quickly and he saw that she had hastily reapplied paint on her face.

"The mist might have taken some off. I can't risk it." She explained truthfully.

"Why?"

"Because you could be my enemy." She kept her head down. "How do we get to the children's floor?"

He pushed the news that she had an enemy that fit his description to the back of his mind to ponder later. Right now he had more important issues to think about.

After refilling her water pouch in a pump room and steeling herself against what she would soon see, they found their way to the children. Keeping her mind on her task Katara approached each bed and smiled kindly at each little patient. They were not just hurt, burned and frightened, they were malnourished and dirty. She glared over at the Blue Spirit just in case he _was_ the prince. His family set the tone for the behavior of their nation's leaders. Of course, if the Blue Spirit actually _were_ the prince, he was certainly not at that moment behaving in an evil manner. She bit back a groan of frustration. It was no use trying to figure it out. They worked well together and that's all she needed to know for the time being.

"The fog is lifting outside. We still need to get out of here." He whispered, startling her. He was closer to her than she'd expected and she hadn't heard him approach. She'd noticed him go to the window, but she couldn't watch him constantly.

"I'm hurrying. I'll do another mist when we leave." She said impatiently. Couldn't he see his nearness was distracting her? She could feel him as he brushed against her veil, moving past her and back toward the door.

Her heart thumped in her chest.

"We're still clear in this hallway." He reported in a whisper. Inwardly he wondered why feeling the scant weight of her veil run along his arm had stolen his breath for a second.

He filled his lungs and slowly let the air out to remind them how it was done.

She was coming toward him now, finished with the healings. He stepped into the hallway to make sure the coast was clear and she followed him at his nod.

Down the stairs, through the building and out into the renewed mist they ran, Katara leading the way once they'd been engulfed by the dense fog.

They ran; hands clasped together tightly, along the bridge, over the field and into the forest. They didn't stop until they came to the clearing where the moon shone brightly into the circle of trees.

Bending over and gulping for air, Katara reached into her pocket and found her tiny stash of paint. She could feel the previous coat running and she hurried to put on more coverage.

When she turned he was standing, still breathing heavily, staring at her.

"That was close." She whispered uncomfortably.

"You did well." He responded.

Why did hearing his praise please her? She couldn't hide the smile that crept across her face as she nodded her thanks.

"So did you." Was that shyness in her soft whisper? Was she blushing? "We should rescue the kids the night after tomorrow night. That will give them enough time to have transferred them back to the barracks." She changed the subject.

"We should meet tomorrow night anyway." What was he saying? There was no need.

"To make plans?" She suggested helpfully.

He paused a long time and she wondered if her paint was still running. What could he see?

"Yeah." He finally answered and she breathed again.

"Okay. Same time." She said and turned toward the forest. "Don't follow me."

"You wouldn't know if I did." He said to her back and he saw her stiffen.

She turned very slowly and then stood incredibly still.

"You can trust me." He said softly.

"Can I?" She asked hopefully.

"Yes." He said and began slowly raising his hands to his mask.

Katara's heart sped up. What should she do now? Was he really going to take off his mask and expose himself? If he were really Zuko then he would never show his face to a water bender. Would he? She didn't want to know. At the same time she needed to know. If he actually _was_ …

"No!" She accidentally shouted and then snapped her mouth shut. "No." She repeated softly.

He stood arrested, his hands at the ties on his mask. She was surprised to feel a tear roll slowly down her cheek.

"I don't want to know." Her hushed voice trembled.

He lowered his hands to his sides.

"Neither do I."

And with that she ran into the forest and disappeared into the shadows.

He stood still for a long time, his eyes following the white blur as it became a tiny speck and then vanished altogether.

He'd been bluffing. To what end? To test her faith? Would he have taken the mask off? Would she have shown her own face if he had? She'd said she didn't want to know. He'd said the same thing and it had been the truth.

He trudged back through the forest on legs that felt like lead posts. He thought back to the moment where he had brushed past her veil. Something had happened then. Had she felt it?

He flexed his hand that had held hers so tightly as they had run into the woods.

Zuko tried to concentrate on all the luxuries and comfort awaiting him at the palace. He tried to concentrate on long, shining black hair and a tall, lithe body with ready lips and a simple, if negative, point-of-view.

As his body hit the bed he tried to concentrate on finding Ursa.

His mind, however, kept drifting traitorously to the upcoming, unnecessary meeting with the Painted Lady. He told himself that it would actually be a very helpful rendezvous as they would be able to meet up the night of the mission with a strategy in place. But it was doubtful the plans wouldn't change right up until they started their mission, so truly a meeting was not something that would give them anything but more time together.

And that was why, against his will, he was looking forward to it.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Zuko waited by the clearing for the Painted Lady to show up. He was there early, much to his personal humiliation. He'd killed time by checking the infirmary and now with that task out of the way he was resisting actually twiddling his thumbs.

He heard a twig snap and he jumped to his feet, his breathing shallow.

She was early too.

"Hey." He said as she came toward him, her veil wafting on the light breeze.

"Hi." She said.

They stood like that for a moment, both feeling a bit foolish and grasping for an opening to conversation.

"I checked out the infirmary already. They've already moved most of the kids. There's only eight left." He said.

"Oh, that's good." She smiled. "I'll bet they move the rest tomorrow morning."

"Yeah."

Heartbeats can sometimes be loud, Zuko thought.

"Why don't we sit down?" Katara found a large, flat boulder and sat gracefully on it.

It was big enough for both of them, but just.

After a moment's pause, Zuko sat beside her.

"I'm sure you're already planning this, but you should check the infirmary before I meet you tomorrow night." She said. "Just in case they _don't_ move those kids by then."

"I will." Of course he'd been planning it.

Katara looked down at her hands clenched tightly in her lap. They looked normal but they felt like they were ten times too large and so clumsy that if she simply gestured she'd knock him to the forest floor. She felt stupid and unworldly and absurd.

"You don't have to answer me, but why are you here?" She asked him finally. "Do you live around here or have you come to visit?"

"I guess you'd call it a visit." He replied warily.

"Oh." She was tempted to ask where he was visiting _from_, but she was completely uninterested in questioning him in that way. She had made the decision to let the mystery of his identity rest and she was going to stick by it.

"I'm looking for someone." He provided a more complete answer to the inquiry.

"A fugitive?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I thought she was dead but it turns out I might have been … misinformed about that." He still couldn't believe the amount of groundwork Azula had lain to deceive him about the fate of their mother.

"And you have reason to believe she's here?"

"Yeah. But the trail's gone cold. I may just go home after this."

Katara impulsively laid her hand on his.

"Don't give up. Maybe the trail going cold is an indication you're closer than ever."

"You're an optimist." He smiled inside the mask. Of course she was.

"My br … my friend says that's the same thing as being a liar." She murmured.

"Maybe. But you could be right." He agreed pushing her slip-up out of his mind. He'd said the night before that he didn't want to know, and since then he had firmly decided that was the truth.

"Have you ever been to the Earth Kingdom?" She asked.

"Yes." He responded.

"I lost a friend there once. My other friends and I did. We looked all over, and it turned out he was right under our noses. I'd still be there now looking for him if we hadn't found him when we did. Don't give up."

Zuko closed his eyes. It was as if she wanted to be found out. And that could only mean she didn't suspect him at all.

He looked down to see their hands were still joined. It felt comfortable. He would not be the one to separate them, he hoped.

"I'll stay for another week I guess." He said. "Maybe after the rescue there will be enough uproar that the person who's keeping her secrets will make a mistake."

Katara suddenly had a horrible thought. She didn't know this man at all. What was his reason for trying to find this woman?

"She's not on the run from _you_ is she?" She asked taking her hand away from his.

"No!" He was shocked at the idea.

"I'm sorry. I just … I don't know anything about you. I suddenly thought maybe I was encouraging an unwanted invasion on someone else's privacy." She shrugged.

His hand was closed into a fist on his knee where it had previously been held in hers. She put her hand on top of it again and squeezed gently until he loosened his fingers and laced them with hers.

She blushed at her forwardness, but didn't move to change the circumstances.

"What about you? Why are you here?" He asked. "Just going around anonymously healing people?"

"No. That's just a hobby." She smiled. "I'm just traveling around with my friends. Seeing the country."

"The Fire Nation is a strange place for a water bender to visit as a tourist. There's a war on you know. If anyone notices you, you'll be arrested." He warned.

"I know. I'm being careful."

"Breaking into infirmaries at night and rescuing kids from incinerators is careful? I'd hate to see when you're reckless."

She laughed at that. If he only knew the scrapes she'd gotten into during the past year…

They sat in companionable silence for a long time. Earlier they had both been plagued by a frantic nervousness that made every move, every word, stiff and awkward. Now they sat as friends; their joined hands a comfort rather than a knot from which they would eventually need to be extricated.

"We still need to figure out where to put the kids once we've rescued them." He said softly, regretting the loss of silence and the return to necessary business but feeling it impossible to avoid.

"I think we've found someplace." She said excitedly.

"We?" Why did she persist on giving him hints?

"My friends. I had to tell them. They're going to help us." She said, realizing suddenly that she probably should have mentioned it sooner.

"How? We can't involve a lot of people." He said standing suddenly, breaking their bond.

"There's only three of them. You don't have to worry about them. They all know how to keep a secret." She said defensively.

"You're sure of them? Why did you have to tell someone? We could have done it without help." He said pacing irritably. This intrusion into their private, little world was jarring and upsetting. Suddenly he had to share. He was never good at sharing.

"They're the most honorable people I know." Katara stood and faced him. The moonlight glinting off her veil obscured her features entirely and gave her an ethereal glow that was thoroughly disconcerting to Zuko.

"How am I supposed to know if that's true? I don't want a bunch of strangers along for the ride."

"_We're_ not strangers?"

"Not at this point, no." He snapped.

"My friends will receive the children once we've evacuated them. That's it. They're not going in with us. They're not going to be involved in any way except moving the kids to shelter. We've already all talked about it."

"Our part of the mission remains just us?" He wanted to be sure. They'd worked well together two nights in a row and the last thing he wanted for this new, more dangerous operation, was a wild card.

"Of course." She had made the others promise to stay away from the Blue Spirit at all costs, especially Aang. She didn't want them crossing paths at all.

And she didn't want to share either.

"You said you think you've found a place for the kids?" He moved on. The pleasant mood they'd shared was broken, but was that because he was now wondering how to find out more about her friends or because he was suddenly being forced to confront information he hadn't wanted in the first place?

"Yes. One of them is going to check it out in the morning. It's like an abbey, but it's hidden in the mountains. In caves. He found it this evening and didn't want to scare the sisters or whoever else was there. He said there were a lot of caves and might be able to hold fifty kids comfortably."

"He doesn't know anything about this group? They could be a bunch of psychos. A death cult."

"That's why he's going to check it out in the morning." She said quietly.

He leaned against a tree, looking down at her; reminding himself he didn't want to know.

He didn't want to know.

"I don't want to know anything about your friends." He finally said, a hard edge to his voice. "I don't want to meet them or even see them."

"They understand they're not to have anything to do with our part of the mission. Once we've freed the kids I'll follow them and you can go wherever you want. We'll never see each other again. No one will be able to lead the authorities to you. I promise." She explained sincerely.

"I guess it'll be helpful to only have one part of the mission to worry about." He said grudgingly.

"I'm sorry I blindsided you with that. I would never betray a trust. You'll just have to believe that, I guess. But it's true." She wanted him to sit back down. To hold her hand. She wanted to feel his shoulder warm against her own.

"It's okay." He said after a long pause.

"Will you sit down again?" Sometimes if you want something you have to ask for it.

As if it were a decision of epic importance, he stayed where he was and looked at her for what seemed an incredibly long time.

Finally he came and sat beside her, purposefully taking her hand in his and setting them on his knee where they'd been before he'd broken the connection. He took a deep breath and forced himself to relax.

"What's your favorite color?" She asked him, a smile in her voice.

"What?" He looked over at her, confused by the strange question.

"Well, since we've already talked about the mission and since I don't want to know who you are and you don't want to know who I am … we have to talk about something, right?"

Disturbingly pleased that she didn't want to simply end the meeting and head off in another unknown direction, he grinned behind the mask. Then he tried to figure out which color he could claim as his favorite. It was a tougher question than it seemed on the surface.

"I'm most comfortable surrounded by variations of red, of course." He said thoughtfully.

"Of course." She chuckled.

"But I think I like blue. Don't tell anyone."

"Blue? You like blue?" What a silly thing to get excited about, but that's exactly what she did.

"It's a nice color." He had never thought of things such as favorite colors before, but now that the question had been asked he had to admit that blue was indeed very pleasing. "What's yours?" He asked.

"Blue." She nodded.

"That's mine."

"You called it?" she smirked.

"You'll have to pick something else." He shrugged.

"White." She said quickly.

He accepted that answer and they moved on to other important subjects that included favorite foods, favorite weather, favorite sport, and every other issue of preference they could think of. When the subject took them too close to identifying information they began making up huge, obvious lies about their lives and found themselves trying to top each other for elaborate, dishonest details.

When the Blue Spirit claimed to be Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, the Painted Lady froze. Was it a lie like the rest of the outrageous stories they'd been telling? Or was it the simple, horrible truth, set in the collection of absurdities she couldn't possibly be expected to believe?

"Actually, I'm Princess Azula." He broke the tension and Katara breathed a sigh.

He hadn't meant to trick her. He really didn't want to know. Especially since they were having such a nice time together. His motive was unclear even to him. He just somehow seemed to have wanted her to know the truth, but was too unsure of her reaction and so he'd couched it in fantastic lies.

"I'd better go." She stood.

He wanted to apologize, but that would call too much attention to the 'joke', so instead he hugged her. He was really confusing himself with his odd behavior, but some things couldn't be helped.

"Thanks." He said.

"What for?" She didn't mind the hug, but he had her really turned around.

"I'll see you tomorrow night. Same time." He said, and this time _he_ turned and walked away. She noticed he walked in the direction of the village.

"Okay." She waved at his back.

_Why don't I just shout from the top of the infirmary that I'm a water bender who travels with the avatar and Prince Zuko is my mortal enemy?_

Disgusted with herself she headed back 'home'. And as usual she took a direction that would in no way lead anyone to the avatar or her brother and Toph.

Zuko watched her from the shadows. By process of elimination he'd already figured out the likely straight path to her abode.

One more night and he would be free of her and her irritating helpful impulses. He would be free of the disturbing jolt he felt every time she got close enough to share the same air he breathed. One more night and he could concentrate on the search for Ursa and then get back to the palace. And Mai.

But he didn't want to be free of her.

And he already knew, regardless of where each of them ended up in the world, he never would be.

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**A/N:** Updating rather quickly because we've managed to find the time and also because we are both disturbed by writing something that slips into canon while canon is still being shown. So we're actually hoping to finish this up this week. No promises, but we're going to try.

Thanks to all the great reviewers who have been taking the time to drop us a line!

MacFie xoxo

& Mahatista


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

She ran through the forest with butterfly-wasps in her belly and mammoth banyan drums pounding in her chest. There were so many variables to worry about. So many things that could go wrong. And getting the children from one place to the other was going to be a huge chore. The mountain abbey was at least three miles from the incinerator barracks ending in a difficult climb. Fortunately they'd found out that there were no children under the age of ten forced to work at the plant, so there would be no worry of the very young keeping up.

They had considered using Appa but within a fraction of a second had concluded it was an insane idea.

She slowed down as she got closer to their meeting place. She was always easy to spot, she knew. He was more difficult to detect with his dark clothes. In fact, just as she had that exact thought she nearly ran him down as he stood waiting for her at the edge of the clearing.

"Oh!" She laughed. "I was just thinking how hard it is to see you in the dark."

"We're in luck." He sounded happy. "I think they've beefed up the security at the infirmary with the security from the plant. I've been in both places, and there's only a skeleton crew at the incinerator."

"That's great!" She grinned.

She explained the basic plan to him as they walked through the woodland toward the plant.

They would evacuate the children from the barracks and one would herd them toward the foothill a mile or so away while the other kept the guards busy with distraction.

Katara's friends would meet the children at the foothill and guide them to the mountain abbey.

"You should meet your friends with the kids." He told her. His heart thumped in his chest. He was giving up his chance. Really giving it up. This was a choice.

"I think so too." She agreed. "I'll come back for you once I've transferred them to my friends."

"You don't have to do that." He said quietly.

"I'll want to make sure you're okay." She responded.

"Alright." He didn't know her well, but he knew he wasn't going to be able to talk her out of it.

Zuko told her what he'd been up to that night. He'd already entered the barracks earlier and made contact with several of the teenagers held there. The fifteen and sixteen-year-olds would help the younger kids to stay on track and keep up on the journey, much to Katara's relief. They both had to remind themselves that, although these could be called "kids", they were of an age with their rescuers and most likely physically capable of aiding in their own escape.

The incinerator shone like a beacon on the hill. It was an imposing structure with several varying sizes of units for burning refuse and several support buildings containing offices and barracks for the workers.

The children's barracks was closest to the actual units and had two guards posted outside.

"Looks good so far." She said. "Should we both go in? Or should one of us wait out here and distract the guards?"

"They won't need distracting." He whispered to her.

Before she could even nod her agreement he was moving along the shadowed wall toward the guards, his swords drawn. When he was in position he popped up between them, pulled the swords apart and used the hilts to knock them both unconscious.

"This way." He pulled her by the hand through the main doors and into the great hall of a dingy dormitory.

They ran along the aisle between the rows of cots to the other end of the hall. Once there they turned and motioned to a couple of young men who were already getting to their feet, fully dressed.

A signal from one prisoner to the others in the beds caused the gray sheets to flutter into the air and boys and girls leapt from the cots, clothed and ready to travel. Katara and Zuko were impressed to see the children stand beside their sleeping stations, quietly awaiting their next orders.

"You'll follow the Painted Lady." Zuko told the two leaders. "She'll take you straight out the front. You can't leave anyone behind, so have some older kids bring up the rear to be certain. I'll stay back here to make sure nobody follows you. It's far. A few miles and there's a climb at the end of it."

"We can do it." One of the teens said confidently and fifty gaunt, young faces nodded their agreement.

"There are some guards on the roof." Zuko said to Katara. "Give me three minutes to get up there and draw them away from the front and then get out of here."

He turned toward a doorway that entered to a stairwell.

"Be careful." She whispered so only he could hear.

He turned back, the mask expressionless, but he reached out and grabbed her hand for a quick squeeze.

"You too." He said and disappeared up the stairs.

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There were more guards on the roof than Zuko had expected. He had seen two of them from the ground but watched them turn toward the back as he and the Painted Lady had approached the building. He'd known there would be more than just the pair, but had not expected a good fifteen.

Most were lounging around, shirking their duties in the pursuit of various vices. They all looked up when he appeared in their presence.

"Hey!" One particularly large oaf barked.

"It's the Blue Spirit!" Came a slurred voice from the side.

As they slowly moved toward him he eyed all of them, picking out the weakest, the followers and the leaders.

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"What's your name?" Katara asked the lead teenager as they walked at a quick pace along a path approaching the foothills a mile away from the incinerator.

"Niza, my lady." He replied and she had to blush at the title he'd bestowed upon her.

"In just a few minutes we'll be meeting with my friends, Lee and Kuzon. They'll take you the rest of the way." She explained.

Toph was to remain at the base of the mountain with a plan to attempt a surreptitious enhancement of the path that the kids would take up to the abbey. Sokka was certain anyone within a mile of the place would feel the quaking of her earth bending, but she insisted that she was capable of quiet bending in addition to her usual raucous style.

"Are you going back?" Niza asked Katara.

"Yes." She nodded.

"Are you bringing the Blue Spirit to the abbey?" The boy wondered.

"No. I'm just going to make sure he's okay. Then I'll meet up with the rest of you there."

"Will you tell him 'thank you' for us?" Niza asked, ashamed he hadn't thought to say it earlier.

"Of course." She said and was suddenly distracted by the sight of her brother and the avatar loping their way toward them. "There they are."

"Was there any trouble?" Sokka asked as he came near.

"I don't know. I have to go back to make sure." She said firmly, knowing the objection was coming.

Her brother didn't say anything right away, but Aang squeaked, which she assumed was the beginning of an argument.

"I'm not just going to be on my way without knowing if he got out all right. I mean he could be a prisoner at this very moment and for what? For rescuing a bunch of half-starved kids from a child labor camp. I'm going back."

"I didn't say you weren't." Sokka said defensively. "I was just thinking maybe you might need some backup."

Katara looked at Aang to see if any more squeaks were forthcoming. He looked innocently back and said nothing.

"_I'm_ backup." She answered Sokka. "I'll meet you at the abbey." She flashed them a sweet smile and turned to head back to the incinerator complex. Her legs would ache in the morning, she thought.

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As she neared the industrial monstrosity she could hear the yelling. She could sense the chaos as she approached. The alarm had been put out and by the look of things it had been a recent event.

But where was the Blue Spirit?

She stayed within the tree line, eyeing the situation. She saw no sign of her accomplice, but saw his handiwork laying in heaps about the complex. There weren't many but it was impressive considering he'd done it all on his own.

She circled around from the forest until she found an entire side of the complex that was deserted. The guard numbers had obviously been extensively depleted.

One building looked like a perfect place to hide. It wasn't a barracks so she knew she wouldn't run into any workers. It wasn't like any of the others in the complex. Whatever this building was, it would give her a good opportunity to hide in the shadows and watch the events outside unfold. And then she might get an idea where to find the Blue Spirit.

She ran toward a door, hoping it would at least take her close to where she wanted to be. It opened easily and she could see by the single lantern lighting the hallway that she was in an office building.

"There he is!" She heard a thick voice call from outside and she froze for two breaths before she ducked into a room off the corridor to look out a window. She could see about five big men running together toward the front of the complex. One of them called out and the mass switched directions. She watched them for a while as they ran around the complex responding to what looked like puffs of smoke in various places. Obviously buffoons being played by a master she thought, proud to be on the side of the master rather than that of the hapless guards.

She left the office, realizing the Blue Spirit may be long gone after having set up some kind of diversion with the puffs of smoke. But she decided he probably wouldn't have left knowing she would come back. But where would he hide?

As she entered the hall she heard a noise coming from just outside the door through which she had entered. Taking no time she moved silently into an alcove that had a thick leather tarp covering its entrance. At first she thought it was a closet but then she realized the miniscule space was somebody's office. She shook her head and then had to stop herself from screaming as she stepped on a foot and heard a low, hissed, intake of breath.

It was pitch black but she was fairly certain she'd found him.

_That was easy_. She thought, but he was sitting on the ground and she realized his breathing was hoarse and ragged.

"Is it you?" She crouched toward the sound on the floor.

"Yes." He whispered.

"Are you hurt?" She asked, reaching toward him.

"Yes." He answered, his voice strangled with pain.

"I can't see anything." She felt along his arm. He didn't pull it away, so she figured it was not the injured body part. "Can you walk? Can we get to the clearing so I can see what I'm doing? Or an office with some light."

All of a sudden the room lit up just enough to see and she looked around. It was coming from his fingertips. Four tiny flames gave the alcove office an eerie glow.

"I didn't know you were a bender." She commented as she looked him over.

"I have a big gash across my ribs. Can you heal it?" He choked and her eyes traveled to his torso where indeed a slash had been ripped into his tunic which was now saturated with blood.

"Oh no." She said worriedly. She could heal the damage, but the blood loss was going to slow them down.

"I can heal it. Just sit very still." She said, kneeling between his spread legs.

"They're still looking for me. But there aren't many left who are very capable." He said from between clenched teeth.

"I saw them. There's about five and they're sticking together. Your diversions are working. They run en masse to every poof." She'd have chuckled if she weren't so worried about his injury. She covered her hands with water and proceeded to gently administer the technique.

He sighed at the soothing feel of the water on the burning wound that very soon didn't hurt at all. It was only the continued weakness in his limbs that reminded him he'd had a very bad injury.

"That feels so much better." He breathed. "Thank you."

"Stay still." She commanded. "Just rest for a few minutes and then we'll try to leave."

She was still kneeling between his legs, checking the wound and making sure it was properly sealed when the alcove went pitch dark.

"Hey." She whispered. "Did you pass out? Are you with me?"

"I'm with you." Came his soft voice.

She felt his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her gently toward him. The other hand was pushing her veil to the side. She braced herself with her hands on his shoulders as she began to lose her balance.

Suddenly she felt his lips brush hers as his hand cupped her cheek. For only a split second she wondered what had happened to the mask. After that she only thought of the lovely feeling of his mouth pressed gently against hers and she found herself pressing back, enjoying the sensation of a kiss that felt both forbidden and appropriate at the same time.

He released his tender hold on her and she sat back a little, her hands still gripping the shoulders of his tunic. She heard a scrape on the floor and she knew he was replacing the mask.

"Why did you do that?" She whispered.

"Did you not want me to?"

"I don't know." She answered honestly. "Maybe I did."

"We should go." He said though he made no move to stand.

"You still need to regain your strength. You're very weak. You're trembling." She could feel the shudder beneath her hands.

He let out a harsh laugh.

"I'm not weak." He whispered ruefully and disengaged her hands from his shirt.

He groaned as he pulled himself to his feet and once he was standing he created a light so she could see to right her attire.

Why had he kissed her? At this point Zuko was so exhausted and confused he just wanted to lie on his back and sleep for three days. He had wanted to kiss her since the night he taught her how to use his dagger. But wanting to kiss a girl and actually doing it are two vastly different things. Especially when the girl very likely is firmly attached to the enemy and when one has obligations at home.

And she might not have wanted him to do it.

But she'd kissed him back. She'd said "maybe."

He extinguished his fire when he pushed aside the leather curtain. Heading for the exit closest to them and to the forest, he suddenly stopped short and pulled the door silently shut.

"What?" She asked.

"One of them is out there. I don't know if he saw me or not or if there are others. We have to go out another way." He explained quickly.

Katara thought about how easily she could dispatch the guard, but then realized she wasn't supposed to be a warrior. And the Blue Spirit was still too weak to fight. She would follow him for a while, but if worse came to worst she'd have to show her skills. And what harm if she did it anyway? Somehow she felt that something precious would be destroyed if she exposed herself as a master fighter and she couldn't stand that. They would probably never see each other again and she wanted him to remember her as he thought she was.

He had another fifteen minutes worth of surprises set up for the buffoons, he figured. If he and the Painted Lady timed it right they could head for the woods from the front while the oafs were on the other side of the building and disappear before anyone got a clue.

The problem was that she was right. He _was_ weak. For the first time since she stumbled into his hiding place he thought about how close he had been to dying right there in that stupid broom closet office. The idea was not only frightening it was also embarrassing. To be killed by a bumbling idiot who managed a successful cut only because he tripped at just the perfect moment and was subsequently knocked sideways by a cohort who accidentally shoved the first moron's arm to the side… what a humiliating way to go.

He motioned for her to follow him toward the front of the building. He was familiar with the exits but they had to time this right. He headed straight toward the door leading to the main complex. The cacophony of deep, slurred voices was coming closer and his companion pulled back.

"Don't worry." He hissed.

She relaxed her grip. It was then that he realized they were holding hands as they had been the night before. Odd how the loosening of her fingers was the thing that alerted him to the fact that they were interlaced with his own, he thought.

The group of pursuers passed in front of the doorway where they tucked themselves into the shadows. As the very last of the rabble passed, Zuko pulled her out and right behind them. They followed the bunch for about five paces and then turned between two buildings and picked up speed.

They may as well have been invisible.

Past the entrance at the main gate they jogged across the field. They were out in the open for this brief time but the forest and its inviting cover was just ahead. Zuko was not encouraged however as his body began to falter; its energy sapped.

"What's wrong?" She asked worriedly when he stopped and pulled her to the ground.

"Okay. Okay." He was muttering as he looked back over his shoulder. He pushed her further down and crawled behind her so that his dark form blocked her bright white one from the view from the incinerator. "Okay. Okay." He kept saying and Katara felt panic swelling in her chest.

"You _are_ too weak! We should have waited." She said trying to sit up, aggravated that he kept pushing her down and muttering to himself.

She pulled water out of her pouch and created a mist. She imagined what it would look like from the plant, and decided they'd better get moving as soon as he was able.

"Just give me a minute." He breathed as the mist covered him. It felt cool and soothing to his shattered nerves. "I'm sorry."

"Relax." She said taking a tiny bit of moisture from the air surrounding them to cover her fingertips and lightly graze his torso through the slash in his tunic. As she reached up to his chest she could feel his heart thumping erratically and she patted him lightly on the shoulder. "It's going to be fine. Just stay calm and you'll get your strength back."

"If I weren't embarrassed enough by being wounded by a drunken idiot…" He sighed, feeling the regeneration her healing touch brought.

"I won't tell anyone." She chuckled despite the peril of their situation.

In the distance they heard the oaf brigade notice the mist. They heard them compare it to the strange fog that had appeared at the infirmary a couple of nights before. They heard them struggle to make the connection.

"I'm okay now." Zuko said. It was only partly a lie.

"Are you sure?" She asked waving her arm quickly around them to re-thicken the mist.

"I can make it into the forest. I get the idea they're kind of afraid of your fog." He got to his hands and knees before taking a breath and forcing himself to his feet.

A wave of dizziness passed over him but he held his ground.

"You'll have to lead again." He said. "I can't see a thing."

"Let's go." She took his hand and pulled him along.

He did indeed feel stronger. Once again he was amazed at the abilities of the water bender.

"I can run." He declared, although he wasn't certain if it was a statement of fact or a wish.

"We can try." She agreed only because she could hear some commotion behind them. Their pursuers were a fair distance away and would probably give up once they reached the blinding mist but it would do no harm to put an even larger stretch between them.

She pulled him through the mist and he was proud to be able to keep up. He was winded, but nowhere near the meltdown he'd had in the middle of the field. He felt the terrain change and he knew they were within the outskirts of the forest.

They didn't slow down for what felt to Zuko like a mile or two and then she stopped. He could tell by the softness of the grass beneath his boots they were in the clearing.

Their clearing.

"I'm sure they wouldn't follow us this far." She said, breathing heavily. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He gulped air.

For a second they stood catching their breath. The fog began to dissipate. He could just make out her form as she turned away from him.

"I guess this is it." He said quietly. "You'll want to get to your friends at the abbey."

"Yes." She turned back to him but kept her head down so all he saw was hat.

And then a strange thing happened. She raised her arms and swirled them about herself so they were once again engulfed in whiteness.

Once again the fog blinded him but this time she wasn't holding his hand and it made him nervous to be so swallowed up with no touchstone.

He felt a sharp tug at the back of his head and his mask fell away.

"What…" Was the only word he got out before she silenced him with her lips.

If his kiss at the plant had been tenderness itself, her kiss was pure passion. She pulled him down to her, winding her arms around his neck, pulling down his hood and threading her fingers through his hair.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, pulling her to him as if complete absorption were the goal. His fingers splayed wide on her back, pulling her closer even as he stumbled backward with her forcefulness, finally coming to rest with his back against the trunk of a tree.

Katara had never initiated a kiss before. In fact, that kiss at the plant had been one of her first. However, she'd been privy to the women's ribald stories in the South Pole and had some idea of what was expected of a serious kiss.

They engaged hungrily. Savoring, exploring, drinking each other, their mouths fused so tightly their teeth occasionally clacked together.

Neither one of them had forgotten that this was their last night. The last time they would be together. The last time the Painted Lady and the Blue Spirit would work as a team. The knowledge of their imminent parting had hung like a pall over both of them the entire length of the mission.

But for now their parting was forgotten. The mission was forgotten. Time was forgotten.

When they came up for air, opening their eyes, trusting the blinding white mist would shield their knowledge they realized just how much time had actually passed.

First there was surprise that the mist had cleared. Then there was shock that they could see.

She leapt back from him, her feet tangling in her veil and she fell to the ground. She scooted back, out of reach, past the wide hat that had been knocked to the ground during their embrace.

"You didn't know?" His voice was quiet and sad.

"I didn't want to know." She said miserably.

"Same here." He said as much to the ground as to her. "I'm sorry." He reached out to help her up but she scooted away even more.

"Why can't you just be a monster?" She gritted furiously as she struggled to her feet. "Or be a hero." Her hands clenched at her sides and she felt her throat close around a thick sob. "So I can hate you or love you without regrets."

He reached out to her again and almost caught her just as the world around him returned to its blinding white state and he knew that she was gone.

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**A/N**: I know we said we were going to be finishing this last week, but life and the stomach flu had other ideas. There's one more chapter to go, but no teasers as to when it will be up. Maybe soon, maybe not. We have learned this week that we are not in charge.

Reviews make us smile happily, so thanks to all who take the time!

MacFie & Mahatista

xoxo


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Katara sat down to rest at the base of the mountain. She could see the path leading up to the caves that made up the abbey but she just didn't have the energy to climb it.

She'd run a good third of the way before she nearly collapsed and had to rest for a half hour near a stream. She'd wanted to be prepared with as much of her element as possible in case he followed her. She wouldn't admit to herself that she was disappointed that he hadn't.

Despite herself she'd spent the journey alternately sobbing and sniffling. She had suspected the Blue Spirit was Zuko many times in the past few days. This final night as they had walked toward the incinerator complex he had used his full voice two or three times before catching himself and she'd recognized the unique sound of it. She'd pushed it to the back of her mind and refused to think about it. She'd told herself it was because of the mission, but she knew it was because she wanted to pretend. She had not expected to respond to his needing her, or to be so comfortable working with him. She had especially not expected to want so desperately to kiss him.

Heaving a self-pitying sigh she began the climb. It was just after dawn and she hoped there would be food. And a place to sleep. And something, anything, to take her mind off the feel of his body pressed fully against her own.

By the time she made it to the abbey entrance she was so exhausted and weak she could barely raise her head. She shuffled through the opening and found herself quickly enveloped in her brother's arms. He'd been waiting for her and of course had fallen asleep on the ground. Her awkward footsteps had awakened him and he'd leapt to his feet to catch her before she could fall on her face.

"Katara!" His panicked voice barely penetrated her exhaustion.

"I'm so … " She burst into tears.

"What happened Katara?" Sokka asked worriedly. "Are you hurt? Did something happen to the Blue Spirit?"

"No." She said, fighting for control. Feeling sick to her stomach due to more than just extreme weariness and hunger she really didn't want to have a conversation. "I'm just tired. He was hurt but I healed him and he's gone now." She said as evenly as possible through her tears.

"Well it's good you went back then. I was worried about you, but if you're not hurt…"

"I'm not hurt."

"Why are you crying then?"

She didn't answer. She shuddered a couple of times, breathed deeply and fell asleep.

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As the sun began to light the forest Zuko raised his head and looked in the direction of the mountains. The damp mist was long gone but it had helped to preserve her footprints in the grass.

He looked at the veil he still clutched in his hand. It was all he could get hold of before she'd run away.

He had tried to get up. Tried to walk away from the whole, foolish event. But he couldn't. He couldn't even get to his feet, so he'd sat the whole night through, dozed off and on, and contemplated his situation.

He could follow her. The footsteps showed the beginning of her path but he didn't need them. He knew she was headed for the mountains. He would be able to find her if he went that way. He'd be able to find the Abbey and get some idea of where she was even if she had moved on.

And when he caught up to her he could capture her and her friends. If he brought a small army he could do it. A squadron of fire benders would be strong enough to take the water bender and the avatar. The others could be taken or go free as far as he was concerned.

Or, alternately he could find her and make peace. With the avatar. With her. And in doing so he could betray his father. He didn't think he could do that.

And he knew for a fact he couldn't capture her. And he couldn't capture the avatar either. Because of her. Which galled him.

He reminded himself how he had felt when he'd last fought the avatar. It had been a release. He'd had to hide his fire bending for months in the Earth Kingdom. But it was more than just finally being able to free his element. There was bliss mingled with his hate. A thousand cruelties roared from his memory as the flames shot powerfully from his fists. It had been the most spiritually cleansing experience of his life. Even as he watched the boy falling through the air and later watching the Dai Li take his uncle away as prisoner he still felt the tingle of success. Even as he'd looked into her anguished eyes in the aftermath he had been exhilarated.

But that joyous feeling had been temporary. As much as he'd wanted to hold onto it, the sensation had slipped away from him. Just like she had done. Leaving him with nothing to hold on to but a strip of gauzy fabric prone to rips and tangles.

He leaned back against an ancient fallen tree and rested his head. A little sleep would clear his mind, he hoped. At least he might be able to pick a path.

Although why he should be able to do that at this point when he hadn't been able to do it for months, he was unsure.

_Why can't you just be a monster? Or be a hero. So I can hate you or love you without regrets._

Pick a path.

She could love him.

She could also hate him.

The sun dappled the ground around him and he closed his eyes as it shone through the leaves onto his face. He soaked it up. It would give him strength.

He would need to be strong.

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Katara awoke on a pallet, the sounds of laughing children filtering to her ears from somewhere outside of her immediate surroundings. She sat up and stretched, her stomach immediately growling aggressively for food.

"Welcome back." Sokka said dryly. "You've been asleep for hours."

"I was up all night, have some sympathy." She grinned, so happy to see him.

"Hungry?"

"Are you kidding? I could eat Momo."

"I know you're joking, but when you're ready to take down the lemur, I'm in." Sokka said conspiratorially.

He filled a bowl with soup from a bubbling pot and handed it over to her. She happily started eating and found to her delight that it was both hearty and delicious. She hoped there was enough for her to have seconds without anyone else doing without.

"Slow down." Sokka laughed.

She chuckled and held out the empty bowl for refilling.

"So tell me what happened." He was suddenly serious as he put more soup in the bowl.

"Nothing. I went back. He was hurt. I healed him. We left. I came here. He's wherever he is." She said flatly.

"Did he ever tell you who he was?"

"No." She said a little too quickly.

"So who was he?" Sokka said just as quickly.

She focused on her food and Sokka knew he wouldn't get anything more out of her while her guard was up.

"Where are Aang and Toph?" She asked still not meeting his eyes.

"Playing with the kids. They love Aang."

"Oh." She responded.

He watched her for a few minutes while she finished her meal.

"Someday Katara." He said evenly. "Someday you'll break down and tell me what happened out there."

"What? Nothing happened." She blinked innocently at him but her gaze was focused over his left shoulder.

He laughed out loud.

"Let's go meet the head honcho. Then we have to start making plans for our next move. We can't stay in this area. We're leaving tomorrow at dawn." Sokka pulled her to her feet.

"Always at dawn." She muttered allowing him to pull her along.

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Zuko couldn't believe he was following the path of her footsteps. Every step was a mockery. He was angry.

He used to find comfort in anger.

How dare she challenge him? Demanding that he be a monster so she could hate him or be a hero so she could love him? Was there no in-between? Was there no way to not choose? He could go along as he had been and live in luxury with someone who never demanded a choice. Someone who cared for him whether he was monster or hero or directionless prince.

He followed the footsteps until they disappeared.

Then he followed where he knew they led.

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Katara was slightly intimidated by the grave woman who stood before her. Until the woman smiled. Then her face softened and she emanated kindness, although she had obviously experienced great hardship. Her long dark hair had streaks of gray, and her hands were red and chapped from hard work. But her eyes were warm and she took Katara's hands in her own and thanked her effusively. She was beautiful when she smiled, Katara thought.

"We've been trying to figure out a way to get those kids out of there. The plant is unsafe for the adults, much more so for the work camp children. And the way they starve them is just shameful." She said shaking her head.

"I'm glad I could help." Katara blushed.

"My name is Sister Oni. And you did more than help. From what I've heard you set this all in motion. Now these children will have a chance." The sister explained as she walked Katara along the path between the caves so they could look in on all the recently liberated kids.

The noise level rose as they entered the cave and Katara grinned happily when she saw all the young faces with their playful expressions and exuberant smiles.

"What a difference a good meal and freedom makes." The water bender said almost to herself.

"We are honored to have you as our guest, even for this one night." Sister Oni said looking graciously at Katara.

Suddenly the woman gasped softly and Katara looked around frantically. Were they being attacked? Had he actually followed?

"Where did you get that dagger?" The older woman asked, eyeing the knife at the water bender's waist.

"Um…a … friend gave it to me." Katara answered, the word "friend" sticking in her throat.

"My son had a dagger like that." Oni said quietly.

"Oh." Katara said, her heart thumping. How many daggers were there like this one?

"It's a beautiful piece." The older woman continued to stare at the weapon tucked into Katara's sash.

"Do you want it?" She pulled the dagger from its makeshift sheath and held it out to the sister.

Oni took the knife and looked at it, reading the inscription on one side of the blade and then turning it over and reading the other side. She bit her lip and looked like she might cry for an instant and then stilled her face into a mask as expressionless as that worn by the Blue Spirit.

"No." The older woman said slowly, handing the dagger back. "If he gave it to you he wanted you to have it. I wouldn't dare take it."

She wanted to tell her that her 'friend' had thought she was someone else when he'd given her the weapon, but somehow Katara knew there was no use in arguing. She felt a kinship with this woman. They were similar, she thought. They could be friends if she could stay longer.

"If you change your mind, just tell me." Katara said, replacing the knife at her waist. "If it reminds you of your son, I would be happy for you to have it."

"It does remind me of him. I'll think about it." Oni said and placed her hands on either side of Katara's face. "You're very beautiful. Inside and out." She kissed the Water Tribe girl on the forehead in a motherly fashion and called out to the children to stop their game and greet their rescuer with thanks. What followed was a chaos of cheers and shouts.

Katara determined to leave the dagger so Oni could find it after they'd left. She didn't want it anymore.

It was too heavy anyway.

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The next morning, at dawn, Sokka led his group away from the abbey. There had been hugs and tears from the youngest and warm thanks and effusive praise from the sisters.

Katara's side felt light and exposed without the dagger, but she was glad she'd left it tucked under the older woman's bedroll. Sister Oni was working for the good of Fire Nation children and she deserved to have a reminder of someone she loved.

As she walked along, she thought about the dagger and the sister and …

He'd said his mother had been taken away from him. Katara had assumed death but perhaps something else had happened to separate mother from son.

It didn't matter, she determined. She didn't care.

Except she did.

As they strode off the path and into the forest to make their way toward the rendezvous point for the invasion Katara smiled to herself.

He hadn't followed them.

Maybe he _had_ changed.

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Zuko had followed the path to the foothill where he could easily make out the mountain abbey. The whole side of the mountain was pocked with caves that were connected by a winding path.

He had stood watching the area for a long time, considering and weighing his options.

There were things he still needed to accomplish, he reminded himself. His plan on returning to the palace had been to seek out the Minister of Waste Management and demand that all the incinerator plants in the Fire Nation be thoroughly inspected and modernized. He'd already made up a reason including the extreme waste of resources, loss of revenues and lowered productivity due to frequent laborer injuries. That was important and he would not leave that task undone.

And he would have to talk to Mai. He owed her that much. Part of him hoped when he saw her again his heart would be sure and he'd fall right back into their comfortable pattern. But he doubted it.

And he would finally deal with Iroh. He would apologize and offer to help his uncle. He had doubt that his offer would be accepted but Iroh had done stranger things and so it was worth a try.

When he finally took a step he took it in the opposite direction from the mountains. He would not seek her out. He would not find her today. Or tomorrow for that matter.

He would go home.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

They had been long weeks. Just two of them but time had crawled. Zuko's plans had been complicated by the fact that Azula was obviously plotting something. She was so obvious about it he had a hard time pretending he didn't notice her smirks. Just more reason to get out of there.

Talking to Mai had been difficult. She had put up every barrier she had at her disposal and spent the entire conversation making snide remarks about how boring he was and how she hadn't even noticed he'd been gone. She threw in a few comments about other guys, but Zuko actually found himself hoping there _were_ other suitors for her rather than feeling jealous.

When they parted she patted him on the head as if he were pathetic, but as she turned away he saw the tears glint in her eyes.

He felt awful. He was trying to choose the path to good and the first thing he did was hurt the only person who accepted him unconditionally. One would think the affections of a pretty girl with no expectations would be liberating, but the reverse had been true. He found himself longing for the water bender's demand that he be better, and that longing wasn't always accompanied by romantic impulses. He needed someone to challenge him. To show him she cared.

He realized that Katara's demands carried with them encouragement, and that surprised him. She believed he could be better and expected him to do so. In that belief resided his destiny.

The Minister of Waste Management was a fat, sweaty, pasty bureaucrat who huffed about funding and regulations and Zuko stated his case in response calmly before asking the man if perhaps he might feel more comfortable if the Fire Lord were brought in on the discussion. When he left the man's office he had secured a commitment from the wheezing minister to modernize and overhaul safety measures at all the incinerator complexes in the Fire Nation for the benefit and continued prosperity of their beloved country.

It was his last chance to use his royalty to get his way and it felt good. He would miss the option.

And he had gone to see Iroh. As their earlier frantic conversations played through his head he determined to keep his emotions in check. He would offer his assistance to his uncle in any way the old man wanted, including helping him to escape the prison if he desired. It was the least he could do, he thought.

But when he'd entered the cellblock the guard told him his uncle had been moved to an unknown location. Emotions wildly _not_ in check Zuko raced back to the palace to confront his sister. If Iroh had been executed in his absence, the prince was certain he couldn't live with himself.

"He wasn't moved." Azula had said dismissively. "He escaped. One morning a couple of weeks ago the guard brought uncle his breakfast to find him gone. A Pai Sho tile was in his place. Strange. But dramatic as usual." She had rolled her eyes.

"Why was I told he'd been moved?" Zuko asked, not trusting Azula as far as he could throw a komodo-rhino.

"That's the official story. It would be very embarrassing to have to admit your highest-level traitor had escaped from under your nose. You'd know that if you hadn't gone wandering about the countryside looking for clues of the avatar." She couldn't help chuckling at the end.

Zuko had left dejectedly. He understood the significance of the Pai Sho tile and he knew Iroh was probably in good hands, but it hurt that he hadn't been quick enough in coming to the old man's aid. He supposed he'd expected Iroh to wait for him to come around as he'd always done. It made him feel foolish to realize how wrong he'd been.

With no more reason to stay after his tasks were completed, Zuko packed a satchel, his swords, and a little bit of food and left the palace.

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"Hey Sweetness, what's with you and Aang?" Toph had interrupted her friend one morning about a week following the rescue.

"What do you mean?" Katara looked up suddenly from the laundry she was folding.

"He's acting weird, you're acting weird. What's up?"

"Hmm. I didn't notice." Katara's brow furrowed. "I guess we've got a lot on our minds. You know… the invasion. Why are _you_ acting so normal?"

"Normal? Do I _normally_ care about your problems?" Toph grinned.

"No. I guess you don't." The water bender punched her friend in the shoulder and then rubbed her throbbing hand. "How is Aang acting weird? I didn't notice since _I_ was so busy acting weird."

"He's just being quiet. His heartbeat's all over the place. Kinda like when Appa was missing."

"I'd better have a talk with him." Katara nodded. "He's probably nervous about the invasion too."

She left Toph to search for Aang near their campsite. He was gathering firewood with Momo and she found him pretty readily.

"Toph thinks you're weird." She joked smiling at him.

"What?" He asked looking around to see if the insulting earth bender was hiding and giggling.

"I'm just kidding. She thinks you're acting strangely. Do you want to talk about it?"

"You're acting more strangely than I am." He said defensively.

"How am I being strange?" She was shocked it had all been turned back on her.

"You're quiet. You don't notice when someone needs something and you usually get it for them before they even ask. You don't even hear someone ask for something the first time, they have to ask twice."

"So I'm being weird because you've had to get a few things for yourselves?" She raised an eyebrow irritably and Aang was reminded suddenly of his first academic tutor at the Southern Air Temple, Soon Fo. He shuddered.

"You've been distracted since you came back from the incinerator that night. Everyone's noticed." He told her.

"I'm a little worried about the invasion." Katara said, annoyed by his judgment when he'd been behaving just as strangely … according to Toph. Katara hadn't noticed. Which _was_ strange, she had to admit.

"You think I'm not?" He snapped.

"What's your problem?" She bit back at him.

"I don't have any problems! I'm about to lead a bunch of people into battle with an eight-minute window where we _assume_ fire benders can't bend! And when I look around for a friend to lean on, the one who's usually there for me is mooning around camp in a daze!" He shouted.

"I am _not_ mooning." She said through clenched teeth then turned sharply and stomped away.

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Zuko climbed the last few feet on the path to the abbey. He hoped the avatar's group had mentioned to someone where they were headed. It was his only lead.

"May I help you?" A large, ostrich-horse faced woman met him at the entrance to the cave. He could hear a large group of kids engaged in an activity of some sort back in the caverns, but the sister had stopped him well before allowing him even a visual of the area.

"I was hoping someone could give me some information about some visitors you had recently." He said as politely as possible.

"We haven't had any visitors." She shook her head.

"About two weeks ago. Four teenagers. Two girls and two boys. Ages twelve to about fifteen or sixteen." He said holding his temper.

"I'm sorry, we haven't seen a group like that." She was being nice, but she was lying and he was not in the mood.

"Look, I know you took in a bunch of kids from the incinerator work camp. The group of people I'm looking for rescued them. I was part of that rescue. I need to find them." He controlled his voice but he thought there might be smoke curling from his clenched fists.

"Let me ask Sister Oni if she's seen such a group." The homely woman looked him up and down and left him outside.

Zuko sat on a nearby boulder. The climb was tiring. He wondered how the kids had done it that night.

He sighed. It had been easier when he had been looking for the avatar in order to hurt the boy.

He heard voices come toward the entrance of the cave and he stood. He brushed his dusty robe thinking maybe his appearance had become disreputable during the long climb to the abbey and perhaps that was why the horsey woman had put him off so bluntly. If this new woman was the superior it might help to look a little neater.

"What can I do to help you?" A voice asked while he was concentrating on a bur in the fabric of his sleeve and he froze.

He'd recognize that voice anywhere.

For a split second he actually considered not looking up. Something inside of him wanted to hide completely. He fantasized about sprinting back down the mountain and never looking back.

Slowly his raised his head and looked her in the eyes.

Sister Oni stumbled back a step and caught herself. Her lips formed his name but no sound came from her mouth.

"Sister? Are you alright?" The larger woman asked worriedly.

The superior looked blankly at the other woman for a moment before jerkily nodding.

"It's alright Sister Lia." She whispered. "Please leave us. I'll be fine." She assured her counterpart who continued to throw suspicious glares in Zuko's direction as she returned to the cave.

Oni returned her gaze to the young man standing before her. He hadn't moved. Still stared at her as if studying a portrait.

Zuko stepped back when she reached a trembling hand to him. Who was this woman who had abandoned him for so many painful years? She wasn't taller than he anymore. Her forehead was lightly lined with permanent marks of stress. She wore the plain clothes of a sectarian peasant and her graying hair was tied back in a simple, practical braid. It was such a contrast to his perfectly preserved father he had trouble recognizing her.

But her eyes were the same. Behind the glittering tears and past the thin, weary wrinkles shone all the love he'd missed. She was real. He'd found her.

"Mother." He had stepped away from her touch and so felt a gap between them that seemed insurmountable. He bowed respectfully for lack of any better idea.

"Oh Zuko." She breathed. "I thought I was doing the right thing."

"It doesn't matter." He said. But it did. Whatever her intention, her decision to leave him had been the _wrong_ thing, no question.

"Of course it matters." She strode purposefully toward him, her confidence returned and wrapped her arms tightly around him, physically pressing his forehead into the crook of her neck.

His arms stayed by his sides for a moment while his tense body fought the need to melt into her embrace.

But melt he finally did, his arms squeezing her just as tightly as she was hugging him. She felt wetness soak through the shoulder of her tunic about the same time he realized his own shirt was becoming drenched.

He never cried. Never. Rarely anyway.

"My beautiful son." She wept. "Can you ever forgive me?"

He didn't answer for a long time. His first thought had shamefully been negative. No, he'd thought. He couldn't forgive her. He could love her. He could need her. But he could never forgive her.

But that would be a lie. He of all people understood the bizarre twists that came with being royalty. The mistakes made out of devotion to a poorly defined purpose. The demand of perfection by those so far from perfect they've not even hit the scale.

_Can you ever forgive me?_

He had several people to whom he intended to present the same question. What answer did he hope to receive and why did he deserve it any more than she?

"Yes." He choked. "I already have."

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From a rocky ledge he studied the small encampment. The group some distance from him seemed to work in slow motion. They were tired, he could tell.

In the week that had followed his reunion with his mother he'd experienced the bizarre sensation of a temporary loss of his element while at the same time fending off a small group of attackers made up of guards from the incinerator complex. The oafs had lost their jobs in the wake of the escape of the work camp children and the sudden discovery of egregious safety violations and such poor working conditions that they cost the Fire Lord a good deal of prestige among his people. They'd been dismissed with no severance. They had to blame someone and so a peaceful, unofficial abbey seemed like a good place to start.

If Zuko had not been there, the louts might have actually hurt someone. As it turned out they were unprepared to actually face an accomplished fighter. When he'd dispatched the ruffians he was surprised to find the fifteen and sixteen year olds who had so recently been rescued had created a barrier across the mouth of the cave so even if the oafs had won their way past Zuko they would have to fight stick and rock bearing teenagers who had every intention of defending their new home.

People rise to the occasion if someone will only believe they can. Why had it taken him so long to understand that fact?

And now as he watched the camp, he hoped he too could rise to the challenge.

He heard the lightest rustle behind him and he quickly turned. His eyes went wide as he found himself face to face with the avatar.

"What are you doing here?" The boy asked him his body coiled for a fight.

Zuko felt the old urge to attack but quelled it, disgusted with himself for what he realized now was an involuntary reaction akin to an addiction.

"Trying to get my nerve up." He finally sighed.

"For what?" Aang asked him. "If you want to attack me, do it now. Leave them out of it."

"I'm not going to attack you!" Zuko snapped. It was as if the kid had read his mind.

"Then why are you here?" The avatar demanded, never relaxing his battle stance.

Zuko looked back at the group. He could see her working. Putting things away. Making things right.

"Why are you here?" Aang repeated impatiently.

"I didn't come for you." The prince spat back at him.

There was a long silence while both boys watched the water bender. Aang relaxed his stance and stepped forward. Not too close. He was young but he wasn't a fool.

"You know I've been thinking about kissing her like that since the day I met her. I've dreamed of it." Aang said quietly.

"She told you?" Zuko's brow furrowed.

"No, she hasn't said anything about what happened that night."

"Then how did you…" Understanding lit the fire bender's face. "_You_ cleared the mist that night.

"She was taking too long. I was worried about her so I went back to make sure she was okay. I knew she was hiding somewhere in there."

"I'm surprised you didn't attack me." Zuko said seriously.

"I didn't feel like it."

"Does she know you saw?"

"No. I made Sokka and Toph promise not to tell her I checked up on her. That would have made her mad." Aang said as he too watched Katara from afar. "I told them I couldn't find her. It made Sokka worry, but I didn't want him to know what really happened."

Zuko looked at the boy. It had never occurred to him that there was anything other than friendship between the water bender and the avatar. That complicated things for him.

"If it makes you feel any better she didn't know it was me." He told Aang.

"Really?" For some reason it _did_ make him feel better.

"Not until you did your little air bending trick and made the mist disappear." Zuko couldn't resist a jab.

Aang grinned. She hadn't purposefully betrayed him with his enemy.

"Why are you here?" He asked again.

"I want to talk to her." Zuko said, feeling uncomfortably like he was asking permission.

Aang didn't want Zuko talking to Katara. He didn't want the prince here at all. Not in this place that was peaceful for the moment. Where they were healing and trying to come up with their next strategy.

But he was not in a position to refuse. How could he? Katara would _really_ be angry if he presumed so much. He hated when she was angry.

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Katara drew water from the well outside the crumbling structure that gave them temporary shelter. They had been surprised to find the resource, shabby with disuse but abundant with crystal clear water. If nothing else they wouldn't die of thirst.

She heard him approach. She thought it was Sokka. When he actually spoke she instinctively water whipped him to his behind.

"What are you doing here?" She stood over him, her hands curled into fists.

"I came to talk to you." He replied rising unsteadily to his feet.

"Why?"

"To make peace." He said quietly, looking in her eyes for the first time since he realized he needed her. They pulled at him as no others had. How could he have missed it all that time?

"With me?"

"With you. With the avatar I guess."

"You _guess_?" She asked miserably. What was she going to do? She still wanted to kiss him!

"I don't know." He said distractedly. He wanted to touch her but he didn't dare. "Mostly with you, I suppose. I can't be your enemy."

"But you _are_ my enemy."

"No."

"Yes you are!" She cried. "Zuko this is _war_. You can't just make peace with a handful of people here and there because they have something you want. Either you're my ally or you're my enemy. In _all_ of it. There's no time left to stay on the fence. Can't you understand that?"

He stared at her. What did she want him to do? He couldn't remember exactly why he'd come or what he thought might happen. He knew that making peace with the avatar would mean betrayal of his father's goals, but he'd never thought anyone would expect him to say it out loud. And by announcing it did that make him an active part of the opposition to his country? He would truly be a traitor, not just by insinuation but also by declaration.

He was here to make peace. For himself. He had not been thinking about his nation.

"This isn't about you Zuko." She continued as if he'd spoken his thoughts aloud. "It's not about me or the Blue Spirit and the Painted Lady or even the avatar. It's about nations surviving. Even yours."

"I won't hurt Fire Nation citizens." He said gruffly, stubbornly.

She let out a bitter laugh.

"Do you honestly think we would purposefully hurt innocent people?" She asked him incredulously.

Memories clamped down on him. The avatar saving him from Zhao at the fortress, the boy risking his life to put out the flames of Kyoshi Island, waking up on the back of the avatar's bison instead of in the wasteland of the North Pole. He remembered her offer to rid him of his scar.

"No. I guess you wouldn't." He admitted softly as he took a deep breath, trying to cleanse some of his guilt and finding it impossible.

"So why are you here?" She squared her shoulders and looked at him sternly. She expected an answer. She would not be put off with platitudes.

"It's a simple question." The brother approached, his sword drawn but his body at ease.

"Is it just Sweetness you came for or are you ready to do the right thing?" The blind girl appeared and stopped in a support position behind Katara, her arms crossed over her chest.

Zuko swallowed. He hadn't wanted to talk to these people. He'd only wanted to talk to Katara. He longed for their clearing in the woods and their disguises. He wanted to go back to the time when he didn't know.

The avatar floated down from his perch and stood in support of his friends. He didn't say anything. He'd already asked the question.

"I came to talk to Katara." Zuko finally said lamely, feeling his face heat.

"But that's not enough." The Water Tribe boy said. "You came all this way. Why?"

"It's time nephew." A familiar, beloved voice said quietly as the old man stepped from the shadows.

Zuko looked up sharply. "Uncle!" He said, both relieved and ashamed.

"Why have you come?" Iroh asked.

"I don't know." He did know his decision couldn't be based on a girl. And it couldn't be based on his disappointment with his family. It couldn't even be based on the cruel exile his mother had been forced to endure.

He had to do what was right.

The group tensed as the prince stepped toward the avatar. He stopped a few feet short of the boy and looked down at him. Studying him. How many important life choices could a sixteen-year-old be expected to endure in such a short time?

Zuko pulled his swords from their sheath as he dropped to a knee before the avatar, laying the weapons on the ground before him.

"I'll serve you. It's the right thing." He bowed his head in obeisance.

A childlike cheer went up from the group while Iroh stood back and grinned, fighting embarrassing tears of joy.

The prince was awkwardly patted on his shoulders. Still not trusted or liked enough to be embraced, but welcomed nonetheless.

Later, after Zuko had spent time alone with his uncle and laid out his bedroll near the old man's sleeping space, the prince looked out over the vast mountain range below. He knew he wouldn't be alone, so he wasn't surprised when the avatar sat down beside him.

"I love her." The boy didn't mince words. "I'm not going to give up just because you got the kiss I wanted."

Zuko looked over at him. He wished he could concede to the avatar. He wished he could promise to back off and never pursue a relationship with the water bender.

But there was no way he could do that.

"I said I'd serve you, but that doesn't change how I feel about her." He said carefully. "I didn't come all this way for a crush."

"Neither did I." Aang said meaningfully.

They were silent for a long time.

Finally Zuko opened his bag and took out his mask. He handed it to Aang who inspected it with interest, even held it up to his face to look through its eyes. He handed it back to its owner, wondering what in the world the prince's plan could be.

Zuko placed the mask on the ground, pulled out a sword and clove the laughing face in two even pieces. He handed one to Aang and put the other one back in his bag.

"May the best man win." He smirked.

"Thank you, I will." Aang said cheerfully as he accepted his half of the mask.

As the days went by their training took a very serious turn. The comet was approaching and the future of the world hung in the balance. The day of reckoning rushed toward them at a mind-numbing pace.

But at least once a day blue eyes would meet gold eyes and for an instant they would be transported back to that moment in the mist. And the world would open up like their moonlit clearing and they would see the possibilities of peace.

And they would always smile.

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The end

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**A/N:** Thanks to everyone who has been reading this story. It was incredibly enjoyable to write.

And thanks especially to all the wonderful people who have left a review. It's been great to hear from you and we hope you liked it.

There has been a lot of spoiler information going around and we've been seriously trying to avoid it. For that reason we sort of skipped over the invasion and straight to the aftermath. If you've seen the hacked or UK episodes, please don't write any spoilers if you leave a comment. We are on the US air date schedule, so keep in mind that we're only up to The Puppetmaster.

If you haven't read the story Parts of a Whole (written by MacFie alone) please consider checking it out.

Thanks again for taking the time to read Mask and Veil. Have a great day!

MacFie xoxo

Mahatista


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